Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-23

s.shs is dying. anyhow, so IL does
not mstter," answered another. ut
doe. not make any difference to the
dead whether they owned castle or a
howell"
"But is she dyingy with shudder.
EYES," in whisper; "the portrait
fell--it was the omen. She sickened
at once. 1t will be a great funeral.
My lord will go back to his law books;
his time at the castle was short life
and merry one"
But Ludwig Schmidt sped home from
Geneva to his young wife. "Victory!-
the decision is for u.s.
She raised herself from the couch to
lean the fair head against his shoulder.
81 am glad to think you will be here.
you will not be poor when am gone. ;"
but you are not dying, darling-or
if you were dying, it was of fear, and
you shall fear no more.
ado you blame mel can't help be-
ing afraid" Bertha's weak voice said.
II have heard of the Schwartzberg
omen all my life.'
Poor child! You have heard too
much"
"And oh. Ludwig!" she went on, II
am almost afraid to tell you--the night
you went away the stone eagle over the
gate fell down; and the night was SO
still there was not leaf stirring"
Now, the fall of the eagle over the
gate was new form of the omen, and it
set Ludwig thinking for dear life-yes,
and for the dearer life than his own.
That very night again the eagle fell.
For the second time it was put up and
mortared and cemented into its place.
Bertha is sincerely dying of supersti.
ton, dying of an old woman's tale, F"
thought Ludwig, exasperated; land yet
l cannot explain this evil thing away.
If the poor child dies it will not have
been foretold, it will have been caused
by the fall of that picture in the tap
estried room and this eagle over the
gate"
The so.called Fritz Hartmann, was
leaving the village; he was taking
Martha and their child across the ocean
to make au emigrant's home in the far
West. He bad refused goodly sum
of money from the castle. He would
have all or none. He was to go to-
morrow, but it was tomorrow that
never came.
"The eagle is down again, whispered
the kelner to the master, land the ivy is
all broken and torn from the wall, and
there is man lying dead.
Ludwig hurried across the court yard,
and found Hartmann dead on his face
with an ivy tangle beside him and the
broken eagle.
Only then the kelner remembered
that each time the omen had come it
had shown itself after the visit of Hart
mann with his carving. As for the fall
of the antlers and the accidental death
of the boy-that no doubt suggested to
Hartmann an easy method of clearing
the old Baron out of the way; for cer-
tainly, when the mirror fell and the
portrait, Hartmann, the carver, had
found an opportunity to help the nails
out of the wall and leave them loose. II
the young bride had died of superstition
and fear there would hive been no heir
but the man who had tried by legal
means and lost his chance.
The lady of the castle bloomed into
health; she comforted the peasant
widow, and sent little Gretchen mar.
rage portion in time to come. But the
evil omen of the Schwartzberg never
happened again; and the folks of the
Golden Dragon" refused the explana-
tion, as credulous folks always do.
"The outcast died by the omen itself
at the castle gate." they said. "The
stone eagle killed him."
"The wound was made by fall, " said
the surgeon positively.
And yet at the "Golden Dragon" the
tale was told for many year as the tit
test and most "creepy' instance of the
Schwartzberg omen. For if men will
enjoy a shudder they won't have an ex
PLANTATION. Il Cassels Magazine.